HUW WATKINS
Watkins: Flute Concerto, Violin Concerto and Symphony Adam Walker (flute), Alina Ibragimova (violin) / Hallé, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Ryan Wigglesworth, Edward Gardner [ NMC / CD - released 20/Jun/2019 ] Watkins is one of today's leading composer-pianists and this album (his second for NMC Recordings) showcases his vibrant, lyrical and impeccably crafted orchestral writing. Both the Flute and Violin Concertos were composed for soloists with whom he... |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Peter Grimes (complete opera filmed on Aldeburgh beach in 2013) Alan Oke, Giselle Allen, David Kempster / Guildhall School of Music & Drama & Britten-Pears Orchestra, Steuart Bedford [ Arthaus DVD / DVD - released 10/Mar/2014 ] GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE AWARD NOMINATION 2014 |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Britten: Cello Symphony, Cello Sonata & Cello Suites Alban Gerhardt (cello) / BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Manze / Steven Osborne (piano) [ Hyperion / 2 CD - released 1/Feb/2013 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD FINALIST 2013: Concerto |
ANTONIN DVORAK
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Dvorak: Cello Concerto / Rondo in G minor for cello & orchestra / etc Alisa Weilerstein (cello), Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Jiří Bělohlávek [ Decca / CD - released 21/Apr/2014 ] "Hers is an interpretation of passion. It is by no means heart-on-sleeve but, rather, it is distinguished by well-harnessed vigour and attack, susceptibility to the music's lyrical heart." (Gramophone Award Nomination 2015 - Concerto) |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert: Schwanengesang Andrè Schuen (baritone), Daniel Heide (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 18/Nov/2022 ] "one enjoys Schuen's fresh, beautifully contoured baritone, deployed with breath control that allows him to sail into long vocal lines with an illuminating sense of long-term musical direction, plus telling articulation of text." Gramophone |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Well-Tempered Clavier Books 1 & 2 Andras Schiff (piano) [ ECM New Series / 4 CD Box Set - released 20/Sep/2012 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD FINALIST 2013: Instrumental |
FROBERGER / CASPAR / COUPERIN / MUFFAT / etc
Pour passer la Melancolie Andreas Staier (anon. French harpsichord, late 17th century, Joseph Collesse, 1749, restored by Laurent Soumagnac 2000-4) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 20/Feb/2013 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD WINNER 2013: Baroque Instrumental |
HARRISON BIRTWISTLE
Birtwistle: Angel Fighter / etc Andrew Watts (Angel) & Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts (Jacob) / BBC Singers & London Sinfonietta, David Atherton [ NMC / CD - released 20/May/2017 ] Gramophone Awards 2016 - Finalist - Contemporary |
VALENTIN SILVESTROV
Silvestrov: Hieroglyphen Der Nacht Anja Lechner (cello) [ ECM / CD - released 1/Oct/2018 ] "Listeners familiar with the benign beauty that imbues much of Silvestrov's sacred choral works will be in for quite a shock. [The Elegie is] brilliantly performed by seasoned Silvestrov cellist Anja Lechner." Gramophone |
CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI
Monteverdi: Vespro della beata Vergine (1610) Dorothee Mields, Peter Kooij, Barbora Kabátková, etc / Collegium Vocale Gent & Orchestre des Champs-Elysées, Philippe Herreweghe [ PHI / CD - released 18/May/2018 ] Gramophone award finalist 2019 - Choral |
GUSTAV MAHLER
Mahler: Symphony No. 4 Anna Lucia Richter (mezzo), Bamberger Symphoniker, Jakub Hrůša [ Accentus Music / CD - released 5/Feb/2021 ] "Moving and beautifully crafted Mahler, the symphony's sweep superbly presented by an ever-impressive conductor and players deeply immersed in its idiom" (Gramophone Editor's Choice April 2021) |
JEAN SIBELIUS
Sibelius: Tapiola / En Saga / Eight Songs Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano) / Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hannu Lintu (conductor) [ Ondine SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 24/Aug/2017 ] "Lintu's Tapiola does indeed settle into one of the finest performances on record, reconciling the obvious with the mysterious...Again, [En Saga] is a superb performance: rich down below, perky up top, full of delectable solos" Gramophone |
J.S. BACH / C.P.E. BACH / J.C. BACH
The Bach Family: Magnificats Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen (conductor) [ Hyperion / CD - released 16/Feb/2018 ] "You would be hard-pressed to find a more illuminating disc than this latest offering from Arcangelo" BBC Music Choral & Song Choice March 2018 |
HARRISON BIRTWISTLE
Complete String Quartets Arditti Quartet [ Aeon / CD - released 10/May/2012 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD FINALIST 2013: Chamber |
SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: Dissonance Asmik Grigorian (soprano), Lukas Geniušas (piano) [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 8/Apr/2022 ] "Grigorian is utterly compelling throughout. Even on disc, without the visuals, you can hear how Grigorian lives and breathes each song...Pianist Lukas Geniušas is an equal partner dramatically." Gramophone Award WINNER 2022 - Song |
THOMAS ADES
Ades: The Exterminating Angel (complete opera recorded in 2017) Metropolitan Opera / Audrey Luna, Amanda Echalaz, Sally Matthews, Sophie Bevan, Alice Coote, Christine Rice, Iestyn Davies / Thomas Ades (cond) [ Erato DVD / DVD - released 20/Feb/2019 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD NOMINATION 2019 TOP THREE - Contemporary |
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
J.S. Bach: St Matthew Passion Benjamin Bruns, Christian Immler, Carolyn Sampson, Damien Guillon, etc / Bach Collegium Japan chorus & orchestra / Masaaki Suzuki [ BIS SACD / 2 Hybrid SACD - released 7/Feb/2020 ] "The musicians convey it with infectious zeal...Generic early music politesse is relegated to the shadows" Gramophone Awards 2020 WINNER - Choral |
RICHARD STRAUSS / WOLF
10 Lieder Barbara Bonney (soprano) Geoffrey Parsons (piano) [ Deutsche Gramophone Australian Eloquence / CD - released 25/May/2005 ] "A really lovely recital (MusicWeb July 2005) |
SCHOENBERG / BERG / WEBERN / ZEMLINSKY
Vienna - Fin de Siècle Barbara Hannigan (soprano), Reinbert De Leeuw (piano) [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 20/Jun/2019 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD NOMINATION 2019 - Solo Vocal |
DAVID MATTHEWS
Matthews: A Vision of the Sea BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Jac van Steen [ Signum / CD - released 22/Jan/2021 ] "The world of nature is never far away in Matthews's music, and two other recent orchestral works bear witness to his delight in contexts where haunting fragments of birdsong can emerge." Gramophone Editor's Choice March 2021 |